[Aberlour10]

And the problem is named Wikileaks once again. The site is still offline ( cyber war? ) but the main european magazines have just published first secret cables sent by US diplomats with a lot of derisive remarks about the officials from the allied countries f. ex. This could be a real diplomatic desaster for the US administration under the title "How our american friends do really think about us";-)

[PassedOut]

It is estimated that thousands will die as a result of these disclosures, most from apoplexy.

[hrothgar]

 Aberlour10, on 2010-November-28, 14:27, said:

And the problem is named Wikileaks once again. The site is still offline ( cyber war? ) but the main european magazines have just published first secret cables sent by US diplomats with a lot of derisive remarks about the officials from the allied countries f. ex. This could be a real diplomatic desaster for the US administration under the title "How our american friends do really think about us";-)

Yawn...

NPR covered the release of a bunch of British diplomatic documents that referred to allies and adversaries in less than flattering terms. I'm not gonna get too worked up from this.

[kenberg]

Until your post, I had not heard of this. Apparently it will be a disaster. I googled a bit and got to a recent (within the last hour) LA Times article:
http://www.latimes.c...0,4635772.story


An excerpt:

Quote

The cables provide reports of Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, urging the U.S. to attack Iran to end its nuclear program, lay out U.S. efforts to stem corruption in the Afghan government and cite the widespread use of hacking by the Chinese government.

The cables report U.S. diplomats' view that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has become the European "mouthpiece" of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Certainly untactful language about Prime Minister Berlusconi but this is pale stuff in comparison with the paragraph above it. And I suppose it will only get worse.


I take it for granted that some European diplomats do not think highly of some U.S. officials, or of some other European officials, and vice versa. I don't need leaked cables to know that GWB was not well-regarded. So I hope we can avoid handing out dueling pistols over leaked candid remarks. But it will cause problems, no doubt.

But I really would not want to be an Arab diplomat identified as advising the U.S. to attack Iran.

[hrothgar]

 kenberg, on 2010-November-28, 15:27, said:

But I really would not want to be an Arab diplomat identified as advising the U.S. to attack Iran.

Because, of course, there is deep love between the Persians and the Arabs....

Andrew Sullivan had a couple decent articles about this:

http://andrewsulliva...-christmas.html
http://andrewsulliva...ist-terror.html

[kenberg]

OK, I sit corrected.

[Winstonm]

If the U.S. had genuine news organizations instead of a highly-paid stenographer corps, there would be no Wikileaks.

[luke warm]

 kenberg, on 2010-November-28, 15:27, said:

The cables provide reports of Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, urging the U.S. to attack Iran to end its nuclear program, lay out U.S. efforts to stem corruption in the Afghan government and cite the widespread use of hacking by the Chinese government.

The cables report U.S. diplomats' view that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has become the European "mouthpiece" of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

and this one may be far more explosive

Quote

But with the damage already done, the WikiLeaks information reveals some stark communications made among U.S. officials and foreign leaders. The New York Times reported that one cable captured a conversation between Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh and Gen. David H. Petraeus, then leader of U.S. Central Command, that detailed a deal in which the Yemenis would take credit for bombing terror outposts as a means to prevent anger at the government by allowing U.S. forces to conduct operations.

from fox news... sounds like a "go ahead and bomb them and we'll say we did it"... i even read where they'd use materials proving it was actually them and not us

[kenberg]

The fact of the leaking may well be more important than what is leaked.

[Winstonm]

You got to love Hillary's chutzpuh (spelling?). She calls out Wikileaks for a "Crime again civilization" for leaking the actual crimes (stealing credit cards from U.N. members) that she approved.

[kenrexford]

Seems sort of like a truth or dare game at a party that goes way off the rails. Been there. Everyone gets all truth on everyone.

[ggwhiz]

I like the one that described Canadian policy as living in Wonderland.

Kim Jung Il, Ahminejad, Hugo Chavez, throw in a Bush or two and the aptly named Tea Party and this diplomat was bang on. We fell down the rabbit hole in the early 70's.

[helene_t]

French president chasing a dog chasing a rabbit: http://www.bbc.co.uk...canada-11883611

[hotShot]

Revealing secrets like that will shake earth foundation .......

what will be next?

Revealing that a rice bag was dropped in China?

[helene_t]

Ahmedinejad thinks wikileaks is a project from the US government intended to undermine the relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Putin says "Some experts believe that somebody is deceiving Wikileaks to undermine their reputation, to use them for their own political purposes later on"

[kenberg]

 helene_t, on 2010-December-02, 03:54, said:

Ahmedinejad thinks wikileaks is a project from the US government intended to undermine the relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Putin says "Some experts believe that somebody is deceiving Wikileaks to undermine their reputation, to use them for their own political purposes later on"

Do these views come from leaked cables?

People simply speak differently when they expect to be quoted. If I am to be quoted, I might describe someone as methodical and careful. In private I might describe them as not very creative. Pretty much, it's the same description of the same person.

http://voices.washin...able_ready.html

[Winstonm]

The most chilling aspect to me of this release of documents is the number of people who agree with Sarah Palin that an Australian citizen should somehow be found guilty of "treason" and he should receive the death penalty for his act of serial embarrassings.

[PassedOut]

 Winstonm, on 2010-December-02, 08:21, said:

The most chilling aspect to me of this release of documents is the number of people who agree with Sarah Palin that an Australian citizen should somehow be found guilty of "treason" and he should receive the death penalty for his act of serial embarrassings.

You must be one of the dreaded elite who claim that words have definitions.

[blackshoe]

"Words mean what I want them to mean, neither more nor less." -- Humpty Dumpty

[helene_t]

 kenberg, on 2010-December-02, 07:53, said:

Do these views come from leaked cables?

People simply speak differently when they expect to be quoted. If I am to be quoted, I might describe someone as methodical and careful. In private I might describe them as not very creative. Pretty much, it's the same description of the same person.

http://voices.washin...able_ready.html

OK, if I expect to be quoted I call Putin a strong leader who is highly influential in Russian society through his wide-reaching network beyond the bureaucracy.

If I don't expect to be quoted I just say he's a mafia boss.